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Parents Upset Over Lack Of Communication After Brawl Causes School Lockdown

NORTH VERSAILLES (KDKA) - Parents in the East Allegheny School District are outraged.

They say they should have been notified about a big brawl and lockdown at the high school last week.

In the meantime, police continue to look into whether charges should be filed against the students involved.

On Friday, it was chaos in the cafeteria. A fight involving 8 to 10 students, both boys and girls in 9th through 12th grade erupted.

Video of the violent altercation was captured on a student's cell phone.

The building on Jacks Run Road in North Versailles was placed on lockdown for about 20 minutes.

Local police quickly responded to the scene.

Parents say they received zero communication about the situation until Monday, when a letter from the superintendent was sent home.

"They call us to pick up our PTA fundraising, they will call you automatically if your kid misses a day of school, but they didn't call us to tell us they were on lockdown," Theresa Simonetta said.

"Could have been squashed with a simple statement as soon as the lockdown happened, we're under lockdown, more information will follow, that would have let parents know something was happening and another statement is coming out from the district," Erik Meredith said.

The district posted a copy of the letter on it's website.

It states in part, "Although it may be alarming to hear of a lockdown or lockout, we utilize this response when necessary to ensure the safety of all students and staff, and to keep the situation isolated."

Parents say, the letter clears up some confusion, but doesn't do enough - especially three days later.

"You had all weekend to notify us and you didn't," Simonetta said.

Superintendent Donald MacFann released the following statement to KDKA this morning:

"The actors have been identified and sadly, multiple young adults will be issued consequences, pending a hearing."

"They have to come together and develop a plan moving forward, just to make sure all the students here are safe," Meredith said.

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